Tying mechanism



Sept. l0, 1968 H. N. GRILLOT TYING MECHANISM 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct.26, 1966 INVENTQR HOMER N. GRILLOT Sept- 10, 1968 N. GRILLOT 3,400,959

TYING MECHANISM Filed 0cm. 26, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR HOMERN.GR/LLUT BP Wm/W ATT'Y Sept. 10, 1968 H. N. GRILLOT 3,400,959

TYING MECHANISM Filed Oct. 26, 1966 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 IN VE N TOR HOMERN. GRILLO T www ATT'Y United States Patent O 3,400,959 TYING MECHANISMHomer N. Grillot, Naperville, Ill., assignor to Internavtional HarvesterCompany, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Delaware Filed Oct. 26, 1966,Ser. No. 589,596

11 Claims. (Cl. 289-2) ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE A knotter assembly foruse in hay balers and comprising a shank having a pair 'of laterally anddiametrically projecting hooks, and a pair of jaw members normallyengageable with said hooks, said hooks and said jaw members beingcooperatively arranged for gripping strands disposed therebetween.

This invention relates generally to tiers and more particularly to anovel hook for use in automatic bale tiers.

The term tier as used herein designates generally any device used fortying together a pair of strands of ilexible binder material, whetherthe material be wire or twine.

Tiers as a device used in balers for tying the ends of a strand ofbinder material encircling a bale of forage crops such as hay is old asevidenced by the early Appleby Patent 262,883 dated Aug. 15, 1882.Although substantial improvements have been made in baler tiers, theprinciple of operation remains generally the same. A detail descriptionof the tying operation is presented in the patent issued to H. O.Sullivan et al., 3,101,963 dated Aug. 27, 1963.

The tying operation requires coordinated action of several componentparts including a strand carrying needle, a strand holder, a hook, and aknife. Heretofore the single billhook has been employed to perform theimportant functions of twisting and gripping portions of strand in theknotting operation. The home position of the single billhook must be thesame for receiving the strands at the beginning of the operation andfor, stripping the completed knot from the hook. If this position favorsthe stripping operation a breastplate or finger must be lprovided toreceive the strand for the succeeding bale. On the other hand, if thehome position favors strand-receiving, a stripper iinger must beprovided to dislodge the knot from the hook. Hence, a home positionintermediate the two extremes is at best a compromise. Furthermore, thesingle billhook, because it must be rotated an even number ofrevolutions in order to return to its home position, limits the type ofknot that can be tied. For example, the Flemish knot, which requires oneand one-half twists, cannot be tied by the conventional tiers presentlyused in balers.

The general purpose of the present invention is to provide a tier whichties a superior knot and eliminates the necessity of both thebreastplate and the stripper finger. To accomplish this, the presentinvention contemplates the use of a unique double billhook.

It is therefore a principal object of the present invention to provide aself-stripping tier which requires no breastplate finger.

Another object is the provision of a tier capable of tying a Flemishknot.

A further object is the provision of a tier having a double billhook.

A still further object is the provision yof an improved gripping jaw ina tier.

These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent tothose skilled in the art as the disclosure is made in the followingdescription and claims taken in conjunction with the following drawings,in which:

3,400,959 Patented Sept. 10, 1968 ICC FIGURE 1 is a side view partly insection of the tier contemplated by the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a front view of the novel hook used in the tier of FIGURE l;

FIGURE 3 is a side view of the hook shown in FIG- URE 2; 4

FIGURE 4 is a plan view of the hook shown in FIG- URES 2 and 3;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of a tier equipped with thenovel double billhook showing the needle delivering a strand to thetier;

FIGURE 6 is another perspective view similar to that of FIGURE 5 showingthe relative positions of the strand holder and hook preliminary to hookrotation;

FIGURE 7 is another perspective view showing an intermediate stage afterthe hook has rotated one-half turn;

FIGURE 8 is another perspective view showing the relative 4positions ofthe hook and corresponding jaw member in the strand gripping stage;

FIGURE 9 is another perspective View showing the strand gripped betweenthe hook and jaw;

FIGURE 10 is a perspective view showing a successive stage in theoperation; i

FIGURE 11 is another perspective view showing the completed knot as itis stripped from the billhook; and

FIGURE 12 shows a loosely formed Flemish knot.

As shown in FIGURE 1 the tier 10 is` mounted over a bale-forming chamber11 of baler 12. An opening 13 formed in the baler chamber 11 permits thepassage of a strand-carrying needle 14a which is aligned to cooperatewith tier 10. The tier comprises generally a timer disk 14, a strandholder 15, and a hook 16.

The hook 16 includes a shank 17 which is journalled to a housing 18. Theshank 17 carries at one end a bevel gear 19 which is aligned to meshwith a segmental gear 20 formed in the timer disk 14.

Although forming no part of the present invention, it should be notedthat the strand holder 15 attached to the housing 18 is operated throughcooperation of shaft 21, a pair of intermeshing gears 22 and 23, a shaft24, and a bevel gear 25 which is aligned to mesh. with segmental gears26 formed on the timer disk 14. A. knife 27 bolted to the housing 18 asshown at 28 is arranged to cooperate with the strand holder 15.

The hook 16 is of a double billhook conguration having a pair of lateralbillhooks 29 and 30 projecting from the common shank 17. Cooperativelyarranged with the double billhooks 29, 30 are a pair of jaw mem-bers 32and 33. The jaw members 32 and 33 project laterally from a shaft 34mounted in the housing 18 and concentrically with respect to shank 17.The shaft 34 has an extended portion 35 which is adapted to engage oneend 36 of a cam follower arm 37. The cam follower arm 37 is pivotallymounted to the housing 18 by pin 38 and carries a cam follower 39 whichrollingly follows cam 40 formed in the timer disk 14. A compressionspring 41 held concentrically with respect to extension 35 by washer 42and pin 43 biases the jaw members 32 and 33 into normal engagement withcorresponding hooks 29 and 30, respectively, and maintains a continuousengagement of the cam follower 39 upon the cam 40. The cam 40 is ofgenerally circular configuration with a pair of noncircular sections40a, 40b.

Referring to FIGURES 2, 3, and 4, the laterally projecting billhooks 29and 30 are formed by connecting the shank 17 to the mid-point of adownwardly turned circular section 44 as shown at 45, the projectionsfrom either side of the shank 17 constituting the billhooks 29 and 30,Thus the upper surfaces of the hooks 29 and 30 have, respectively, aconvex shape and the lower surfaces have, respectively, a concave shape.The circular cross section dimension at the mid-point of the circularsection 3 44 is greater than that at the outer extremities of the hooks29 and 30, giving the hooks a somewhat tapered configuration.

The concave under surfaces of billhooks 29 and 30, respectively, receivecorresponding jaw members 32 and 33 whose outer extremities terminateslightly inwardly thereof. The jaw members 32 and 33 are formed from amember connected at its mid-point to the shaft 34 and respectively haveformed thereon inwardly facing shoulders 47 and 48.

FIGURES 5 through 11 illustrate the tying operation. It should beunderstood that the coordinated action of the several parts is effectedby the timer disk 14 which is not shown in these drawings.

Preparatory to lbaling operations one end 50a of strand 50 is threadedinto the holder 15 and laid over billhook 30 and the opposite end 50b iscarried by the needle 14a. As the bale B is formed the strand 50 isforced rearwardly, as shown by the arrow, encircling three sides of thebale B. When the bale B is completely formed, the needle 14a lays strandend 50b over the billhook 30 beside end portion 50a and into the holder15. At this juncture in the sequence of operation the bale B iscompletely encircled by the strand 5.0 and the tier commences the tyingprocess.

As shown in FIGURE 6, the holder 15 rotates clockwise drawing the pairof strands 50a and Stlb tautly over the billhook 30. With the holder 15in the position shown, the shank 17 rotates one-half turn in thedirection indicated by the arrow in FIGURE 7 forming bights 50c and 50d,respectively, in the strand ends 50a and Sill; about the billhook 30.Note that the bights 50c and 50d encircle both the billhook and thecorresponding jaw member 33.

Now referring to FIGURE 8, the shank 17 continues rotating in the samedirection one more full revolution to the position indicated. Duringthis revolution the shaft 34 is forced downwardly by the cam followerarm 37 which is pivoted about point 38 due to the cam follower 39rolling over the non-circular portion 40a of the cam 40 (see FIGURE 1).

Upon completion of rotation of the shank 17 strand portions a and 50bare lodged in a mouth 51 formed by the separation of the jaw member 33and the hook 30. At this point in the operation the cam follower 39 hasreturned to the circular portion of the cam 30 causing the shaft 34 toclose the mouth 51 thereby gripping strand portions 50a and 50b betweenthe jaw member 33 and the hook 30 as shown in FIGURE 9.

The next step in the operation is the rotary movement of the holder 15in the direction as indicated in FIGURE 10 causing the strand 50b to besheared as it passes over knife 27.

A succeeding bale forces the tied bale B rearwardly stripping the bights50c and 50d from the hook 30 over the gripped portions 50a and 50hthereby forming the knot as shown in FIGURE 1l. Note that thediametrically opposed billhook 29 is in position to receive the strand50e for the succeeding bale upon completion of the one and one-halfrevolutions of the shank 17. Thus it will be understood that billhooks29 and 30 operate alternatively in tying successive balers.

The knot formed by this tying procedure is a Flemish knot shown inFIGURE l2 which demonstrates superior unreeving qualities as compared tothe overhand knot tied by conventional tiers presently in use.

Although the above disclosure involves particularly a twine knotter itshould be understood that the principles of operation are equallyapplicable to wire twisters. The double billhook particularlycontigurated to function as a twister rather than a knotter wouldeliminate the stripper finger presently required in some wire twisters.

Although the preferred embodiment of the invention as presented hereinhas been described with a certain degree of particularity, it should beunderstood that the A disclosure is for illustrative purposes only andthat various modications of the construction and procedure may beresorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention.

What is Claimed is:

1. In a tying mechanism for joining opposite ends of a strand encirclinga 'bale formed Kin a baler, a strand twister assembly comprising: ashank; a plurality of angularly displaced hooks on said shank; and meansfor rotating said shank Iand said hooks, said hooks operative tomanipulate said opposite strand ends upon rotation to form a knottherein.

2. In a twister assembly as recited in claim 1, wherein the number ofhooks total 2 and are disposed in diametrically opposed positions onsaid shank.

3. In a tying mechanism for joining opposite ends of a strand encirclinga bale formed in a baler, a knotter assembly comprising a shank; atleast one hook projecting laterally from said shank; and a jaw membernormally engageable with said hook, land movable axially with respect tosaid shank to a gripping position for gripping portions of said strandwith said hook.

4v ln a tying mechanism for joining opposite ends of a strand encirclinga bale formed in a baler, a knotter assembly, comprising a shank; a pairof diametrically opposed hooks projecting laterally from said shank;an-d a pair of jaw members cooperably arranged with said pair of hooks,each of said jaw members normally engageable with a corresponding hook,each of said jaw members movable with respect to its corresponding hookto a strand gripping position yfor gripping portions of said strand withits corresponding hook.

5. In the knotter assembly as recited in claim 4, and furthercharacterized by a shaft mounted concentrically in said shank andco-rotatable therewith, said shaft movable axially with respect to saidshank, said pair of jaw members projecting laterally .from said shaft.

6. A strand twisting mechanism for use in a baling machine, comprising aframe; a shank rotatably mounted on said frame; a pair of diametricallyopposed hooks projecting laterally from said shank, each of said hooksmovable first to a strand receiving position for receiving opposite endsof a strand encircling a b-ale, and then to a strand stripping positionfor stripping the received strand ends therefrom; and means `mounted onsaid Iframe for alternately positioning the said hooks in .the saidstrand receiving position whereby the said pair of hooks alternatelyreceive strands for a succession of bales.

7. A tying mechanism for joining opposite ends of a strand encircling abale, and adapted to handle a succession of bales formed in a balingmachine comprising a frame; a shank journalled to said frame; a pair ofhooks projecting laterally from said shank and in diametrically opposeddirections, said shank having a yfirst position wherein one of saidhooks is disposed in a strand receiving position and the other of saidhooks in an inactive strand stripping position, and said shank having asecond position wherein the positions of said hooks are reversed; andmeans for moving said shank to said first and second positions `foralternate bales.

8. In the tying mechanism as recited in claim 7, and furthercharacterized as having strand `gripping means cooperable with each saidpair of hooks for gripping portions of said strand with each of saidhooks.

9. In the tying mechanism as recited in claim 8 wherein the strandgripping means includes a shaft concentrically mounted in said shank andco-rotatable therewith, said shaft being axially movable with respect tosaid shank, a pair of jaw members projecting laterally from said shaftand aligned to cooperate with said hooks, each of said jaw members innormal engagement with a corresponding hook; and means for moving thesaid shaft axially causing the said jaw members to be spatially disposedfrom its corresponding hook.

10. In the tying mechanism as recited in claim 9 wherein the said meansfor moving said shaft includes a cam rotatably mounted on said lframe, acam follower engageable with said cam, said cam follower a'ctuablyconnected to said shaft `for imparting axial movement thereto `inresponse to rotation of said cam.

11. The method of tying a Flemish knot in opposite end portions of aStrand encircling a bale formed in a baling machine, comprising thesteps of laying the said end portions in a sideJby-side relationshipover a hook having a pair of relatively movable jaws, each of said endportions having a loose end extending in the same direction; rotatingthe said hook one-half revolution forming a loop in each of saidside-by-side portions of strand, each of said loops encircling the saidjaws; rotating the hook one additional revolution and causing the jawsto open during the said additional revolution; gripping said endportions intermediate said loops and said loose ends between said jaws;stripping said loops over said gripped end portions.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,101,963 8/1963 Sullivan et al.289-11 3,168,342 2/1965 Harper 289-2 3,301,583 1/1967 Grichnik 289--11LOUIS K. RIM-RODT, Primary Examiner.

